Sophia Harris has worked as a CBC video journalist across the country, covering everything from the start of the annual lobster fishery in Yarmouth, N.S., to farming in Saskatchewan. She now has found a good home at the business unit in Toronto where she produces for national TV news and writes and shoots and edits video for CBC.ca.
Twitter:

'This is terrifying'

Dexter disagrees with some of U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, such as his travel ban. So she joined a group of Canadians boycotting the Hudson's Bay Company for carrying daughter Ivanka Trump's line of clothing and accessories.

"She's assisting him in making policies that I fundamentally disagree with, so why would I give her my money?" says Dexter.

Her main form of protest is tweeting the Bay nearly daily, telling the Canadian-based department store it should stop carrying Ivanka Trump's brand. She and other protestors call their movement #baycott.

Another hateful tweet Dexter received. It no longer exists on Twitter. (Twitter)

When Dexter outlined her plan of attack in a CBC news story, she suddenly became a target herself.

Many of the comments attacked her appearance along with her anti-Trump stance. Some even implied she was envious of Ivanka Trump. "Jealous? R U Ugly troll?" posted one person.

What upset her the most were the tweets she perceived as threatening.

One person called Amanda Dexter an "ugly racist woman" who should stay out of U.S. politics and "needs to be banned." He's also the one who declared that "we'll find her soon."

The person told CBC News that he did not intend for his message to be threatening. "My 120-word tweet was an emotional counter response to her illegitimate cause since she is not a U.S. citizen but a Canadian protesting about the first family," he said.

A screen grab of one of the tweets threatening to seek out Dexter. (Twitter)

Dexter says she was also stalked by another person who was writing "filthy" comments on most of her own tweets, including ones she sent to her two daughters.

"I almost lost my mind," says Dexter. I thought, "'Oh my God, they're going to figure out who my kids are. This is terrifying.'"

That's when Dexter reached her breaking point. She had been reporting the offensive tweets to Twitter and blocking people writing ugly comments. But the vicious messages kept coming. So she decided to stop vocalizing her views on Twitter.

"It was too ugly. It was upsetting me," she says.

Another hate message tweeted to Dexter. (Twitter)

Other Trump boycotters have also received cruel taunts on Twitter.

"It feels like you're punched in the gut the first time it happens," says Amanda St. Jean from Guelph, Ont.

The most offensive tweet for her was a photo she received of an ISIS member holding a severed head.

"That was sort of creepy because that's all it was," she says.

St. Jean believes the Twitter attacks are a deliberate attempt to silence the anti-Trump movement.

"It's an attempt to de-democratize that platform. People want to shut other people up."

Amanda St. Jean dressed as U.S. President Donald Trump. She wore the costume at a protest at the Bay in February. (Amanda St. Jean)

Social media has always been a hotbed of hate because people can make comments anonymously.

But the Trump era has provided some people with further motivation to blast their critics online, says sociologist Ellen Berrey.

Trump has promised to make America great again partly by taking a hardline approach on issues such as immigration and refugees.

That has created an "us versus them" mentality that some people have decided gives them licence to attack anyone who is different or who opposes their viewpoint, says Berrey.

"If you listen to what he says, it's so much of, 'We're good; they're bad.' And not only, 'They're bad,' [but] 'They need to be punished,'" says the University of Toronto professor. "[It's] very much about degrading the other side."

Won't back down

Although Dexter feels she has taken a beating from the other side, she has decided she won't be silenced. After sitting quiet for about a month, she has returned to Twitter to target the Bay and continue her protest.

"I feel like they won, and I don't want that to happen," says Dexter. "I believe in what I'm doing."

When asked what she would do if she once again receives offensive tweets, Dexter replied, "I'm going to ignore it and press on."

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